Fiat 4 HP

Fiat 3.5 HP
Fiat 4 HP
Aka	FIAT 3 ½ HP Fiat 3.5 CV
Manufacturer	Fiat
Production	1899-1900
Class
Assembly	Corso Dante plant, Turin, Italy
Layout	RR layout
Body_style	vis à vis
Engine	straight-2 679 cc
Transmission	3-speed manual
Length	2300mm
Width	1420mm
Height	1450mm
Weight	680kg
Wheelbase	1470mm
Predecessor
Successor	Fiat 6 HP
Related
Designer	Aristide Faccioli

The FIAT 4 HP, sometimes called the 3 ½ CV, was the first model of car produced by FIAT. Eight examples were produced in its first year (1899) and total of 24 between 1899 and 1900. The car had a water cooled 0.7-liter (679 cc) 2-cylinder, rear-mounted engine producing 4.2 horsepower at 800 rpm, mounted to a three-speed gearbox. (No reverse gear was included.) With this tiny engine the car could achieve top speed of 35km/h. Despite having such a small engine, the car used fuel 8L/100 km.

This first Fiat was based on work of Ceirano GB & C (car producer) called Ceirano Welleyes. The 3 ½ had coachwork by Marcello Alessio from Turin. Couple of the First Fiats have survived; one is in Automobile Museum of Turin, and the other one in the Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan in the USA.

The 'Fiat 3 ½ HP sometimes also called 'Fiat 4 HP, was the first model of vehicle built by the then nascent Italian factory in Turin Fiat.

Background and Genesis of the Project

Towards the end of the nineteenth century, an automotive excitement was spreading in Europe which also reached Italy. In the early 1890s, in fact, the engineer Enrico Bernardi from Verona created and a small gasoline tricycle, which is regarded as the first Italian car, whose production was initiated by Miari & Giusti in 1894.

1899 Fiat 3½HP (schema)

On the 11th of July, 1899, a dozen of aristocrats who shared a passion for motor racing, established Fiat by the end of that year in Turin and began the production of the 3 ½ HP.

This first model is derived from Welleyes Ing., a car designed by Aristide Faccioli, handmade by "Ceirano GB & C" and acquired by nascent F.I.A.T..

Technical Data

The 3 ½ HP at the National Motor Museum, in Great Britain

The engine, situated to the rear, is a twin water cooled through a heater coil, the cubic to 657 cm³ for an effective power of about 4 ½ HP (nominal power was shown in 3 ½ HP for tax purposes) only 400 rpm, which allows a maximum speed of 35 km/h.

The gearbox had three gears and no reverse gear with freewheel device, the clutch cone and a chain driven Transmission. Dual brake system, placed at the rear: the foot that acts on the one hand on the drive shafts and wheels. The latter are made of wood, fitted with tires 580x55 front and 670x55 rear.

Despite being a four-seater, the Typo vis-à-vis, was a very compact car with a wheelbase of 1470 mm and a 1200 mm wide axel. Fuel consumption was 8 liters of per 100 km.

Production

For the first eight units built in 1899, they added another 18 the following year, with a total of 26 specimens. Four units are know to have survived: one is preserved at Fiat at theCentro Storico museum, Museum of Carlo Biscaretti Ruffia in Turin, one in the Ford Museum in the United States and the fourth at the National Motor Museum in the United Kingdom.

Fiat car timeline, European market, 1899s-1949s Next ->
Type	1890s		1900s										1910s										1920s										1930s										1940s
	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
City car		3,5 HP																																					500 A / 500 B (Topolino) ...
Small family car			6 HP 8 HP 10 HP																									509 / 509 S							508 (Ballila)					Ballila 1100 A / B ...
Family car											1				1A / Zero				70			501 / 501 S / 502 / 503										514 / 515						1500
Large family car								Brevetti					2		2B							505							507					518
				12 HP / 16-20 HP / 16-24 HP							15-25 HP Brevetti																		520 / 521					522 / 524			527				2800
Executive car											20-30 HP		3		3A / 3Ter								510						512		525 / 525 S
						24-32 HP / 60 HP				28-40 HP / 30-45 HP / 50 HP			4 / 5 / 6												520 "Superfiat"		519 / 519 S
Race car
										130 HP Corsa